“THE TRIO, VOL. 1 ANNOUNCES THAT DAVE BASS IS NOT CONTENT TO REST ON THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF HIS PREVIOUS RECORDINGS. HE HAS TAKEN ON PERHAPS THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE FOR A JAZZ PIANIST – THE TRIO – AND RESPONDS BY PLAYING, COMPOSING, ARRANGING AND LEADING WITH STRENGTH AND SINGULARITY. IN KERRY KASHIWAGI AND SCOTT GORDON, HE HAS PARTNERS WHO ARE WITH HIM EVERY NOTE OF THE WAY, AND THE SPACES IN BETWEEN.”
–Bob Blumenthal / 2-time Grammy winner
THE CAREER DAVE BASS IS BOOK-ENDED IN JAZZ, BEGUN AT BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND PERFORMING WITH BRENDA LEE, BOBBY MCFERRIN, AND JACKIE RYAN; CURTAILED BY INJURY AND SHIFTING TO LAW, BECOMING CALIFORNIA DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL; AND IN 2008 RETURNING AS PIANIST-COMPOSER FOR RECORDINGS WITH ERNIE WATTTS, PHIL WOODS, TED NASH, MARY STALLINGS AMONG OTHERS, AND THEN AS LEADER FOR HIS OWN WORKS. THIS TRIO ALBUM FEATURES COVERS OF PIECES BY BUD POWELL, THELONIOUS MONK, CARLA BLEY, ANNETTE PEACOCK, AND ANDREW HILL. IT ALSO HAS 5 PIECES OF HIS OWN. THE SECOND POWELL PIECE, BUD ON BACH, IS DERIVED FROM C.P.E. BACH AND BASS ON BACH TAKES ON J.S. BACH , SO BASS CAN SHOW SOME OF HIS CLASSICAL CHOPS. HE IS ACCOMPANIED BY DOUBLE BASSIST KERRY KASHIWAGI AND DRUMMER SCOTT GORDON. SAID TO BE VOLUME 1 OF A TRIO SERIES, THE ALBUM HAS DESERVEDLY RISEN IN THE JAZZ CHARTS. TIGHTLY PERFORMED WITH DIVERSE STYLES AND SWINGING GROOVES, THE FINGERS OF DAVE BASS RUN AROUND THE KEYBOARD IN JOY. THIS ENTERTAINING, CHARMING CLASSICAL TRIO HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, FROM BOP TO AVANT-GARDE, BALLADS TO BACH, AND A TOUCH OF LATIN JAZZ.
- Dr. Debra Jan Bibel
“DAVE BASS/THE TRIO: LEAVING THE WORLD OF SOUND BECAUSE OF A WRIST INJURY AND GOING TO WORK FOR KAMALA HARRIS, HE’S NOW BACK IN THE MUSIC WORLD SHOWING JUST HOW FURIOUS A JAZZBO HE CAN BE AS HE LEADS HIS PIANO TRIO THROUGH A VERITABLE WING DING OF EPIC PROPORTIONS. MOVING AND GROOVING WITH WAY TOO MUCH SWING FOR A CAT THAT CASHED PAYCHECKS FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE, THIS IS THE WAY TO GO. THESE ARE CHOPS TO BEHOLD.”
–Chris Spector / Midwest Record
PERHAPS THE TALE OF DAVE BASS’ EXTRAORDINARY COMEBACK AND SECOND MUSICAL ACT IS OLD HAT NOW FOR THE JAZZ GURUS AND ENTHUSIASTS HIP TO THE DYNAMIC AND ECLECTIC, STAR STUDDED TRIO OF RELEASES THE PIANIST HAS RELEASED SINCE THE LATE 2000S – STARTING WITH 2008’S GONE (WHICH FEATURED ERNIE WATTS) AND CONTINUING ON WHALING CITY SOUND WITH 2015’S NYC SESSIONS (WITH PHIL WOODS, HARVIE S. AND KARRIN ALLYSON) AND 2019’S JAZZWEEK CHARTING NO BOUNDARIES (FEATURING ALLYSON AND CO-PRODUCER TED NASH ON ALL WOODWINDS).
YET FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE JUST GETTING ON BOARD WITH THE STYLISTICALLY FREEWHEELING BASS EXPERIENCE VIA HIS ALTERNATELY HARD SWINGIN’./BOPPIN’.SUPER-PERCUSSIVE AND SENSUALLY LYRICAL THE TRIO, VOL. 1 FEATURING HIS NEW RHYTHM SECTION OF KINDRED SPIRITS, KERRY KASHIWAGI (BASS) AND SCOTT GORDON (DRUMS), IT’S FRESH AND EXCITING INTEL THAT SPEAKS TO THE UNDYING MUSICAL COMPONENT OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.
PERHAPS HAD HE NOT FRACTURED HIS WRIST IN THE MID-80’S, ALL THE GREAT JAZZ THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY BE PART OF BASS’ CREATIVE DESTINY WOULD NOT HAVE EXISTED. BUT WE WOULD HAVE OTHER MUSIC FOR SURE. HIS CAREER TRAJECTORY UP TO THAT TIME INCLUDED INTERNATIONAL TOURING WITH BRENDA LEE, WORKING WITH A YOUNG BOBBY MCFERRIN, BACKING VOCALIST JACKIE RYAN FOR YEARS, PLAYING REGULAR SALSA GIGS IN SAN FRANCISCO AND WORKING IN VARIOUS SETTINGS AT THE ROYAL LAHAINA RESORT IN MAUI, WHERE HE HAD MOVED IN THE EARLY 80S TO CONTINUE WORKING WITH RYAN.
THE INJURY CHANGED EVERYTHING, AND FACED WITH THE PROSPECT OF NEVER BEING ABLE TO PLAY PIANO WELL AGAIN, HE EMBARKED ON A STELLAR LEGAL CAREER (STARTING AT UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW) THAT CULMINATED IN BECOMING A CALIFORNIA DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL WORKING UNDER FUTURE VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS. BASS RETURNED TO RECORDING AFTER PLAYING CASUALLY AROUND SACRAMENTO WITH FRIENDS FOR A FEW YEARS IN THE 2000S.
WHILE THAT PERSONAL HISTORY IS FASCINATING, AS YOU LISTEN TO THE NEW ALBUM’S SPARKLING, HI-OCTANE, TWIST AND TURN FILLED JOURNEY FROM AN EXPLOSIVE, FRENETIC AND DENSELY PERCUSSIVE ROMP THROUGH BUD POWELL’S “UN POCO LOCO” THROUGH THE HYPNOTIC, ALTERNATELY MOODY AND BUSTLING SPIN ON CARLA BLEY’S IRREPRESSIBLE “VASHKAR,” THE ONLY IMPACT IT MAY HAVE ON YOU IS THINKING, “HOW COULD THERE EVER HAVE BEEN A TIME WHEN THIS GUY COULDN’T PLAY?” AND “THANK HEAVENS HE GOT HIS MOJO BACK SO WE COULD GET CAUGHT UP IN THIS CRAZY-FUN WHIRLWIND.”
THERE ARE EQUAL PARTS WHIMSY AND WONDER THROUGHOUT, RANGING FROM THE EXOTIC LATIN-TINGED BANG, BOOM AND ROLL JAM BASS ORIGINAL “MEAN JOHNNY” AND THE PLAYFUL BLUESY GROOVIN’ OF THELONIOUS MONK’S “TRINKLE TINKLE” TO THE LUSH, SEDUCTIVE NEW BALLAD “JUNE,” THE PUNCHY, HEAVILY PERCUSSIFIED BEBOPPER “NICE HOME” AND THE SWEETLY MELODIC BUT OUT THERE AVANT-GARDERY OF ANNETTE PEACOCK’S “NOTHING EVER WAS, ANYWAY.”
WHILE EACH OF THE 12 TRACKS IS A SHOWCASE FOR THE TRIO’S WIDE RANGING PALETTE OF JOYS, THE TWO TRACKS THAT, TAKEN IN TANDEM, PERHAPS MOST PERFECTLY CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF FUN AND CAMARADERIE ARE TWO BACH INSPIRED PIECES – THE CLASSICALLY TINGED BARNBURNER “BUD ON BACH” (WHICH DATES TO BUD POWELL’S 1957 SET THE AMAZING BUD POWELL VOL. 3) AND BASS’ HEAVILY IMPRESSIONISTIC, RHYTHMICALLY CHALLENGING RIFF ON THAT CLASSIC TUNE TITLED “BASS ON BACH.” IT CAPTURES BASS’ CHALLENGE THROUGHOUT THE TRIO, VOL. 1 TO CREATE AND ARTFULLY EXECUTE DYNAMIC ORIGINALS THAT STACK UP WELL AGAINST HIS RE-IMAGININGS OF WORKS BY THE MASTERS.
WHILE THAT PERSONAL HISTORY IS FASCINATING, AS YOU LISTEN TO THE NEW ALBUM’S SPARKLING, HI-OCTANE, TWIST AND TURN FILLED JOURNEY FROM AN EXPLOSIVE, FRENETIC AND DENSELY PERCUSSIVE ROMP THROUGH BUD POWELL’S “UN POCO LOCO” THROUGH THE HYPNOTIC, ALTERNATELY MOODY AND BUSTLING SPIN ON CARLA BLEY’S IRREPRESSIBLE “VASHKAR,” THE ONLY IMPACT IT MAY HAVE ON YOU IS THINKING, “HOW COULD THERE EVER HAVE BEEN A TIME WHEN THIS GUY COULDN’T PLAY?” AND “THANK HEAVENS HE GOT HIS MOJO BACK SO WE COULD GET CAUGHT UP IN THIS CRAZY-FUN WHIRLWIND.”
–Jonathan Widran / JWVibe
“A WONDERFUL CD BY A TIGHT, VERSATILE, AND IMAGINATIVE TRIO
DAVE BASS (PIANO), KERRY KASHIWAGI (ACOUSTIC BASS), AND SCOTT GORDON (DRUMS) HAVE RECORDED AN IMPRESSIVE AND STYLISTICALLY DIVERSE CD COVERING BASS ORIGINALS, SWING, BEBOP, LATIN, BALLADS, AND FREE JAZZ. THROUGHOUT THE CD THERE IS BEAUTIFUL PLAYING BY ALL THREE MUSICIANS.
BASS’ COMPOSING AND ARRANGING SKILLS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IMPRESSIVE, AND HE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT WITH THIS NEW CD. BUT, UPON LISTENING TO THIS CD I WAS MORE IMPRESSED BY BASS’ INCREASED PIANO PROWESS. HIS PLAYING IS MELODIC, RHYTHMIC, HYPNOTIC, GENTLE, AND POWERFUL. ALL THOSE DESCRIPTIONS CAN BE FOUND ON HIS ORIGINAL, “BASS ON BACH”. IN ADDITION TO HIS COMPOSITION, ARRANGING, AND PIANO SKILLS, WE MUST NOW ADD BAND LEADER TO HIS MANY TALENTS. THIS IS A TIGHT, VERSATILE, AND IMAGINATIVE BAND.
THE TRIO HAS BEEN PLAYING TOGETHER FOR A WHILE AND IT SHOWS. THEY CLEARLY ARE LISTENING AND REACTING TO EACH OTHER, AND PLAYING AS A SINGLE UNIT. THERE IS A JOYFUL PLAYFULNESS IN THE INTERACTION AND MUSICAL COMMUNICATION AMONG THESE THREE.
I LOVED THE PACING OF THIS CD. BASS STORMS OUT THE GATE WITH HIS BEBOP CHOPS ON BUD POWELL’S “UN POCO LOCO”. “JUNE” A BASS ORIGINAL SETS A BEAUTIFUL SWING MOOD WITH BASS GENTLY COMPING BEHIND A LYRICAL KERRY KASHIWAGI BASS SOLO. THROUGHOUT THE CD KASHIWAGI ESTABLISHES A ROCK SOLID FOUNDATION FOR THE TRIO. HIS DEEP BASS NOTES REMIND ME OF HOW SOMEONE DESCRIBED CHARLIE HADEN’S BASS AS SOUNDING LIKE CABLES ATTACHED TO A REDWOOD TREE.
ANNETTE PEACOCK ’S “NOTHING EVER WAS, ANYWAY”, HAS BEAUTIFUL FREE-LIKE BASS LINES WITH AN EXPLORING ETHEREAL PIANO. I LOVED THE TRIO’S VERSION OF ANDREW HILL’S “THE GRIOTS”.
SCOTT GORDON’S TASTEFUL DRUMMING AND ACCENTS ARE ICING ON THE CAKE THROUGHOUT THIS CD. “MEAN JOHNNY”, A LATIN-TINGED ORIGINAL, GORDON SOUNDS LIKE TWO LATIN PERCUSSIONISTS. HIS PLAYFUL DRUMMING ON THELONIOUS MONK’S “TRINKLE TINKLE” IS THE DEFINITION OF ONOMATOPOEIA. AT TIMES GORDON IS REMINISCENT OF BARRY ALTSHUL, DRUMMER FOR PAUL BLEY AND SAM RIVERS.
THE LAST TWO CUTS ARE MY FAVORITES. THE BASS ORIGINAL “LATELY” HAS A LILTING SWING TEMPO. HEARING IT I WAS TRANSPORTED BACK TO WHEN I FIRST HEARD THE TOMMY FLANAGAN TRIO’S VERSION OF TADD DAMERON’S “BLUE TIME”. SIMPLY STATED “LATELY” IS A LOVELY SONG. THE CLOSING TUNE, CARLA BLEY’S “VASHKAR” FUSES PORTIONS OF PAUL BLEY AND TONY WILLIAMS’ LIFETIME. THE PRODUCT IS A DYNAMIC AND DRIVING TAKE ON THIS ICONIC MYSTERIOUS SONG. AN AMAZING END TO THIS WONDERFUL CD.
–Kelvin Gong /Amazon.com
